Welcome to 'Lost in the Myths of History'

It often seems that many prominent people of the past are wronged by often-repeated descriptions, which in time are taken as truth. The same is also true of events, which are frequently presented in a particular way when there might be many alternative viewpoints. This blog is intended to present a different perspective on those who have often been lost in the myths of history.

Sunday, 28 August 2011

The Forgotten Children

I recently watched an interesting documentary about the lives of children in the Middle Ages, which completely dispelled the myths that childhood barely existed then and children were simply treated as small adults or commodities with specific jobs. Of course, in those days, children worked with their parents on the land but there was always plenty of time to play, too, and recent archaeological discoveries, as well as paintings, have shown that they had toys and games and played just as children do today.

It has always seemed to me that, along with many benefits of the Industrial Revolution, came the dreadful dehumanising of people. The advent of village and small town clocks (introduced primarily for the benefit of more efficient railways) and the shift from a rural way of life to the explosion of overcrowded cities meant that people were no longer attuned to nature or their own natural way of being, but were suddenly turned into cogs in a machine. No longer was the ‘village idiot’ accepted as a worthwhile being who was unique and different, instead he was packed off to a ‘lunatic asylum’ and hidden away ‘around the bend’ out of sight (the phrase ‘round the bend’ comes from the way in which 19th century asylums were often situated at the end of winding roads so they could not be seen); and for many children, childhood no longer existed.

In a cemetery close to a local hospital, which was built as a workhouse, there are rows of unmarked graves of pauper children. These children surely deserve a ‘blue plaque’ like those which mark the homes of philanthropists and businessmen who built this city. It was on the backs of these children that the British Empire was built. Pauper apprentices, whose names are long-forgotten, were the workhouse children whom factory owners bought like slaves. The official version was that they would be fed and clothed and taught a useful trade but many simply provided free labour. In the mills, their job was to clean the fluff from the looms since they were small enough to hurry in and out while the machine kept working. Exhausted and malnourished, many of them stumbled and were caught up in the machinery and lost limbs or even their lives. In the pauper apprentice house, many children shared one bed and often the children worked shifts so that the day shift would sleep then vacate the bed for the night shift to collapse into. The relentless machines never stopped working. The children were expendable and, being orphans or unwanted, no one missed them or noticed when they disappeared and now they lie in unmarked graves in city cemeteries. In mines, in potteries, in match and paint factories, children were employed in this way.

Happily, in the midst of this darkness, came light from men like Richard

Oastler – a Quaker, who not only spoke out against slavery but also against child labour. This man gave up so much of his time to this cause that he was imprisoned for his debts but continued to call for reform to protect children and reduce their working hours. He was not a Socialist but rather a man who saw a terrible situation and was prepared to sacrifice his own comfort to change it.

There is just one thing that is often misconstrued in this story. Industrialisation obviously brought terrible working conditions for many, many people. Consequently, people spoke out against such conditions and quite rightly demanded a change. The mistake, however, was the notion that somehow the monarchy or even the aristocracy created this terrible situation when, in fact, reading the lives of virtually all the royalties of that era, it is clear that they were as appalled as anyone by such things. Prince Albert was not alone in his attempts to improve conditions. In Germany, his daughter, Empress Frederick made numerous attempts to provide education for working people; in Russia, Tsarina Alexandra made similar efforts...the same is true in many other countries. The real problem lay in the heartlessness of certain factory owners, many of whom were proudly self-made men, and the totally bizarre idea that if the monarchs were disposed of, things would suddenly improve.

Regardless of the politics, the revolutions and the downfall of dynasties and empires, I believe that the forgotten children deserve to be remembered for their part in creating Victorian Britain.

8 comments:

Thank you, Christina for remembering these children. Can you even imagine the life they must have had? Thank you also for bringing Richard Oastler to my attention! So many people are unaware of the charitable organizations that Prince Albert and the Empresses Frederick and Alexandra were involved in. Thank you for sharing the light....

Unfortunately it's no longer available, but there was a really good BBC documentary on this very subject. The website is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00t6t3r

There are so many social issues that today we think have origins in some pre-Industrial (usually Medieval) society but came about from the effects of the Industrial Revolution. For example, according to Melanie Philips' 'The Ascent of Woman', if I remember correctly, landowning women could technically vote on legal councils, in Tudor/Stuart times, but this right was later taken away during the Industrial age and contributed to the gender inequality that led to modern feminism. I found that fascinating, ironic but mostly rather sad.

Thank you for your very interesting and thought-provoking comment, laBiscuitnapper :-). It led me to think of women who had a position in Tudor times (Bess of Hardwick comes to mind but so too do the ordinary matriarchs who basically ran villages nd the respect given to motherhood and child-rearing) The industrial age brought about the complete breakdown of society and undermined the dignity of women as well as destroying childhood and the dignity of many men. Something very unnatural seemed to happen in the late 18th/early 19th centuries and we are still reeling from it....

Christina, thank you for this lovely post. It is so good to know that these children are not forgotten. Christina, may I add that your wonderful novel “The Fields Laid Waste” presents such a moving and interesting insight into the lives of the factory children. The interview between Will Harding and the little pauper apprentice girl, and the way that the foreman beat poor Joel almost moved me to tears, as did the way in which the family were forced from their village into the slums of the town! It really is a great book and a captivating story!

Thank you so much, Tess, for your kind mention of my book - I am very glad that you enjoyed it :-). I was so moved by the plight of those children, and by the way in which the city I live in was built on their labour that I felt compelled to write it. I am so glad you enjoyed it and greatly appreciate your comment :-).